


A Rather Lovely Thing

by Captainalbertalexander



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Alien Gerard Way, Alien!AU, M/M, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-13
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-04-22 04:31:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14300868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Captainalbertalexander/pseuds/Captainalbertalexander
Summary: working titleFrank gets "abducted" by alien!gerard. Gerard thought Frank was a stray and decided to take him in and care for him. Think of it as the equivalent of taking in a stray cat. Frank's got no clue about what's going on. Gerard needs advice from Mikey about how to take care of a human. According to him, Mikey is a human expert. Also comparatively. Who knows what'll happen?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> "Why aren't you working on your vampire au?" because this idea wouldn't get out of my head until I wrote it down. seriously, it's been bugging me for weeks. I will also work on coming up with more ideas for my vampire au, promise.

Frank woke with a start. He propped himself up on his elbows and looked around in a panic. His breath started to quicken, realizing he was in a room he had no recollection of going in to. Where the fuck am I? He thought. He looked down and patted his clothes, accounting for everything. His shirt, sweatshirt, jeans, and socks were accounted for, but strangely his shoes were gone. At least it wasn’t an essential part of his wardrobe. If anything was missing besides his shoes, he’d be concerned. As he looked around more, he noticed all the things in the room were ridiculously oversized. He felt like he was in a dollhouse. The room had a futuristic look to it, with clean colors and sharp metallics. There was a low humming noise in the room, oddly calming, but unsettling to Frank because he had no source of origin for the sound. 

He was on a bed fit for a giant, with plush pillows and soft squishy blankets. He crawled up towards the head of the bed and sat on a pillow. If he curled up in a loose fetal position, he imagined he would fit nicely. There was a weird looking holo-desk, that was the only thing he could describe the device as, facing the wall adjacent to the bed. Other than that, the room was pretty bare. 

Just as Frank was done assessing his surroundings, the wall opposite his bed slid open. It gave him quite a start, and he scrambled as far away from the door on the bed as he could. The person- thing?- came further into the room and noticed Frank pretty much hyperventilating on the corner of the bed. The creature was bipedal and had clothes on, and looked pretty tidy. Their skin was tinted light blue, faded darker in some places, with bright amber eyes. Their quiff of hair was a reddish orange; it made them look like a frazzled scientist. They were clothed in a dark blue suit that complemented their skin nicely, with a white button up and a red tie matching their hair. For the most part, they looked human. Their weirdest feature was how huge they were compared to Frank. He was about half a foot tall compared to the giant in the room.

Upon seeing Frank scared shitless in the corner, the foreign being said something undecipherable to Frank and walked up to the bed to kneel by the bedside. They put their arms on the bed, reaching out to Frank, and patted the bed, a universal sign for ‘come here’. Frank was aghast. Did that thing really expect him to come near them? No way! Frank curled up into a ball against the side of the bed against the wall. His visitor patted the bed again and suddenly said, “Hi!”

“Hi?” Frank croaked. 

The large being lit up, and said in a higher pitch, “Hi!”

“H...hi,” Frank said a little stronger. He uncurled and sat up hopefully, thinking he might be on his way to an explanation to why the hell he was here. 

“Hi!, Hi!” they said, patting the bed a little harder. Was this the only English the thing knew? 

Frank slowly stood up, and wobbled over to the giant. They said something in a soft coo, encouraging the little human nearer. As soon as Frank got within reach, the oddly colored stranger began to pet his head. Their giant hand knocked Frank on his ass. That didn’t seem to discourage the alien though, they just kept running their fingers through Frank’s hair. Frank reached up and caught the hand on his head, and brought it to his lap.  
At this, the seemingly friendly being let out a small squeal of delight and propped their chin on their other hand. Frank looked up with wide eyes, wondering what the alien was thinking about him. They said something in that weird language again and wiggled the fingers Frank had taken hold of. 

This surprised Frank, and he gave a little start. The blue creature said something that sounded reassuring and scritched Frank’s belly softly through his sweatshirt with their captured fingers. 

A sharp chime sounded in the room, making Frank start once again. The alien looked at the miniature human a little sadly, before fishing around in their suit jacket. They pulled out a device similar to a smartphone and pressed a button on it. A voice came through the phone-thing, and the blue creature perked up and talked back eagerly. Frank had no clue what they were saying, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to. What was this thing gonna do to him? Was he gonna be sold to an alien zoo? Was he gonna be a slave? Were they gonna probe him? He would never admit it, but he started to whimper with fear. The giant stopped talking abruptly, looking worriedly at Frank. They started talking again, a concerned tone lacing their voice. They began to pet Frank’s back soothingly, still talking, but with a strange intensity and furrowed brows. 

As comforting as that was, Frank was still suspicious. The giant looked nice, but could he really trust a literal extraterrestrial? If he reacted with violence, he’d be knocked the fuck out, no question. If he tried to run away, he’d be caught in a second. If he managed to hide, what would he do to survive? He didn’t even know if there was food or water at the place he landed up in. He felt tears crawl out of his eyes, and he sniffled softly. 

The alien noticed Frank’s distress, and they panicked, backing away from the little human. They were talking rapidly into the talking device, distress clearly in their voice and face. After pausing to listen for a moment, they ever so slowly walked back to the bed and ever so carefully picked Frank up and cradled him in their free arm. 

Frank was so surprised that he stopped crying, looking up at the strange being incredulously. They smiled softly at the small human in the crook of their arm. They talked in a lighter voice into the receiver, sounding relieved and slightly in awe. Frank wiped his eyes with his sleeve and smiled a tiny, appreciative smile. The alien’s face cracked into a wide grin, speaking chirpily. Frank couldn’t tell if the words were directed at him or not, but felt a positive connotation in the tone of the words.


	2. Chapter 2

Gerard had been pacing for a while, contemplating his decision. The poor thing looked ratty and in need of help! What was he supposed to do, leave it there to die? Maybe that was a bit extreme, but it just looked so sad and cute and lonely. Humans are complicated little things. They need a loving home, and someone to take care of them! Gerard was determined to do just that, and do it as well as he could. He called Mikey a bit ago, but his brother didn’t answer. Typical. He left a plea to help him with taking care of the little human. It looked kind of fragile, maybe underfed. He didn’t know how old it was, or if it was a ‘boy’ or a ‘girl’. It just looked scraggly to be honest. 

He decided to go check up on his new tiny companion. He was right outside his room, where he put the little dear in his bed. He opened the door, only to find the little human had woken up and taken residence on his pillow. It looked the perfect size to cuddle up on the pillow. Maybe that’s where it could sleep with him, Gerard thought.

At Gerard’s arrival, the human backed into the wall against the side of the bed farthest to the door. It was breathing much too fast to be considered normal for its species. Gerard said, “Awh, you poor little thing!” and walked over to the side of the bed and kneeled down opposite to the human. 

At that, the human looked more scared, if anything. It curled up farther against the wall, as if hoping to disappear right through it. Gerard frowned, then remembered some things Mikey had mentioned to him about humans before. They’re pretty vocal, and like nice and comforting touches. He reached out his arms a little and patted the bed in front of him. 

The human didn’t seem to want to come over to him, so he kicked it up a notch. What was that thing from the area he got the human from? The thing they say? 

“Hi!” he said, patting the bed again. 

Yeah, that’s it. 

The human looked at him with a sort of recognition in its eyes. 

“Hi?” it said warily. 

Gerard lit up. It knows hi! That’s so cute. “Hi!” he said again, exited to make contact with the precious little being.

“H...hi,” it said, uncurling from its little ball in the corner. It sat up, looking hopefully at Gerard. 

Yes! Now come over here, come on. 

Gerard resorted to the only human thing he knew. Hi.  
“Hi! Hi!” Gerard said, patting the bed a little harder. If he could just get the little thing to come closer, he could pet it and it would feel better. That’s how it worked, right?

The human slowly got up on shaky legs and walked slowly over to Gerard. 

“That’s it, come on over here cutie,” Gerard said softly. He knew it couldn’t understand him, but the way he said it counted, right? 

As soon as it got close enough for Gerard to touch, he began petting its head. That’s one of the good places, right? He must’ve put a little too much enthusiasm in his petting though, because the human fell back on its butt. How adorable! 

Suddenly, the tiny creature reached up, grabbed Gerard’s hand, and brought it down to rest in its lap; its tiny hands still clutching at Gerard’s fingers. 

Gerard could barely function because of all the cuteness. He gave out a delighted little squeal and rested his head in his other hand. The little human looked up at him then with the widest, most endearing eyes when it heard Gerard. At this, Gerard said, “Oh my stars, you are the sweetest little thing!”

He wiggled his fingers still captured in the human’s hands, and watched it give a little start. He immediately said, “No, don’t worry little one. Nothing to be scared of here,” while giving the human’s belly a little rub with the fingers it still had a grip on. 

Just then, Gerard’s communication device indicated a call from Mikey, startling the human once again. Isn’t it not right for humans to be so jumpy?

Gerard frowned, then took his hand out from under his chin to answer Mikey. As soon as he picked up, Mikey said, “You are an idiot of epic proportions, you do know that, right?”

“I knew you’d help me! Thank you so much! So listen, I found this adorable little human and I just had to pick it up, see? And it looks a little rough around the edges so I thought I’d be doing the poor thing a favor. But it’s pretty jumpy; do you think it might not've had a home or something?” 

While he was talking to Mikey, he heard a sad little sound coming from the human. Was it sad? Was it scared? What was he supposed to do?! 

“Mikes, it’s making the saddest sounds ever. It sounds sick, or hurt. What do I do?” he said. 

“Go pet it some more, they don’t like to be left alone,” Mikey suggested. 

Gerard immediately took Mikey’s advice and started rubbing his hand in small circles across the human’s back. That seemed to do the trick, until it started making louder noises of distress and water started pouring out of its eyes. 

“Oh no Mikey, it started leaking! What do I do now?! Whatever I did just made it worse!” Gerard said, backing away from the bed. Maybe Mikey was right, and he wasn’t ready to take care of a human. They seemed very fragile and volatile. 

“Umm…,” Mikey said, trying to think of the best solution. “Pick it up! Pick it up, they like cuddling into soft and warm things, especially each other. It’s a bonding thing for them.”

Gerard slowly returned to the bedside, cautiously reaching out to the distressed human. He didn’t know how confident he was with picking one up. What if it didn’t like it and got worse? What if it squirms too much and he drops it on accident? 

He pushed those thoughts aside and scooped up the little thing up like it would break at any second. He quickly hugged it to his chest, hoping the human would calm down some. 

When it realized it was lying in Gerard’s arm, it stopped making those horrible sounds almost immediately. It rubbed the water from its eyes and face, making cute little snuffling noises. Then to top it off, it looked up at Gerard with those big eyes again. He was so happy that it stopped being sad that he just stared at the human for a couple seconds, giving it a soft smile. 

“Mikey, picking it up worked! It’s so cuddly and delightful! I’m gonna keep it forever!” Gerard said in a hushed voice, not wanting to startle the enchanting being in his arm. The human gave a small smile in return, like it knew what Gerard was saying. At that, Gerard’s face practically split in half from the size of his grin.

“You’re the best thing that’s happened to me in a long time, little one. I hope we can play and eat and sleep and do all kinds of stuff together, and I can’t wait.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> holy shit this took forever

Gerard continued talking to Mikey until he heard a small purring noise coming from the human cradled in his arm. He looked down, bewildered, before he started speaking to his brother again.

“It’s purring Mikey! Or is it sniffing, I can’t tell…”

“That’s a snore, Gerard. It has to do with the soft tissue in their nasal cavities. Some humans snore, some don’t.”

“Awh, that’s adorable! Do they know they do that?” Gerard asked.

“I imagine one of the other ones tells them, the ones that live in the nest with them. I think it wakes them up,” Mikey said dryly.

Gerard contemplated, “So they only do that when they’re sleeping? Hmm.”

“Listen, it’s asleep now, so just put it down. Fire up the transporter, I’m getting on board,” Mikey said.

“I can’t put it down, it’s snuggling me! What if it misses me?” Gerard asked worriedly.

“It won’t miss you, it’s asleep. Hurry up, I’m trying to help you here.”

“Bring all your reading material about humans, we got some studying to do,” Gerard giggled. He was eternally thankful Mikey’s field of education was Humanity Studies, because if he didn’t have the resources available to Mikey, he’d be in a much bigger predicament than he already was. Mikey didn’t know everything about humans though, he was still learning. Still, to Gerard something is better than nothing.

He very carefully deposited the tiny being on the bed and tucked it in. It looked so peaceful all curled up and engulfed in the covers, and Gerard just took a moment to stare in awe of the sweet little creature. He snapped out of his reverie soon enough and went to the deck of his small ship. His transporter was in the corner of the room, not quite collecting dust but certainly on its way.

With some coaxing it came to life, ready and awaiting Mikey’s arrival. It beeped with a request to transport, which Gerard readily accepted. With a small flash of light, Mikey came into view.

“You gotta get a new transporter, Gee. I know you don’t have visitors often but that was a bumpy ride,” Mikey said, dusting off his clothes.

“Yeah, I’ll prioritize that,” Gerard scoffed. “You got all the reading material?” he asked, eager to get to the point.

“Yes, I have some stuff for us. I think they’ll be pretty helpful actually,” Mikey answered. He pulled out a slim book sized device and turned it on.

“Here, look through some of that. Where’s your reader so I can send you the information?” Mikey questioned.

“It’s gotta be around here somewhere,” Gerard said distractedly. He absently waved his arm around to indicate anywhere in the ship, too absorbed in reading to be specific.

“Some help you are,” Mikey grumbled, looking around the immediate area. Dissatisfied with his results, or lack thereof, he moved on to a different area. Gerard was still deeply invested in the text on the reader and didn’t follow. After a while, Mikey found himself outside Gerard’s room.

“Gee! I’m going in your room to find your reader!” Mikey called. Not hearing an answer, he shrugged and entered his brother’s room. He took a cursory glance around the room, and his eyes landed on the bed where the human resided. It was still asleep, softly snoring. Mikey quietly entered the room and peeked around, finally finding the reader on a bedside table.

Gerard walked into the room, nose buried in the reader, and announced loudly, “This is fascinating! You left the reader on a segment on ‘body language’ and I just started from there, and wow, are these little guys complicated! They can communicate with each other without having to vocalize! Aren’t they just so smart and cute an-“

Gerard cut himself off after looking up from the reader to find Mikey furiously gesturing to the human and whisper-shouting “Shut up!”

“Oh,” Gerard blushed, “my bad. I just got excited I guess…”

“Jeez, you really like humans, huh? Why don’t you do Human Studies then?” Mikey asked.

“I don’t think I realized how intriguing the race is until I saw this one,” Gerard said, pointing at the human on the bed. “I mean look at it! Isn’t that just the most adorable thing you’ve ever seen?!”

“Mikey looked over at the bed, then Gerard’s face, then the bed again. He pushed a hand through his hair and sighed loudly before conceding, “Yeah, I guess it’s pretty cute. Looks a little scruffy though.”

“That’s what I said!” Gerard laughed. “You see why I had to rescue it? The nests it was wandering around didn’t look too good either.”

“Okay, but that doesn’t mean you can just take it Gee! What if it has nestmates, or littermates! They don’t leave their nests until they’re fully matured, and even then, most go back to their parents or littermates to visit. If they don’t hear from each other they get worried,” Mikey explained.

Gerard frowned. “Well I didn’t know that!” he defended. He did feel bad about the poor thing not seeing it’s nestmates or littermates anymore, but he’ll give it a good life here. He promised it.

As they were arguing, they failed to see the little human waking up. Upon hearing little noises coming from the bed, the two turned to see the small creature scrunch up its face and let out a yawn. Gerard melted instantly, but Mikey didn’t look too happy.

“Can you communicate with it Mikes? Make it feel better,” Gerard urged.

Mikey sighed again and said heavily, “Yeah, yeah, but you better hope it speaks English or you’re not gonna get very far.”

Mikey turned to the bed, noticing the little thing was getting nervous again. What should he say? He decided to start simple.

“English?” Mikey asked.

The human lit up immediately and just about screamed out a ‘yes’. Mikey smiled and said to Gerard, “You’re in luck, it speaks English. We’ll be getting somewhere after all.”

“Oh thank you Mikey! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Gerard cried, wrapping his arms around the other.

“Alright, okay, get off,” Mikey chuckled quietly. Once Gerard let him go, he turned back to the human.

“Boy? Girl?” he asked. He knew humans were obsessed with the concept of gender, and humans got sassy if anyone got it wrong.

“B-boy,” it- well, he now, - said.

“Congratulations Gee, it’s male,” Mikey relayed.

“Oh, how cute! What is he called?” Gerard asked excitedly.

“I’m getting there,” Mikey scolded, “be patient, jeez.” He turned back to the bed and asked, “Name?”

“Frank!” he smiled. He seemed to be a lot more relaxed now that he could communicate. It must be a scary experience, Mikey mused, but humans are sturdy. Sturdier than most would think.

“Age?” Mikey wondered aloud.

“Twenty-two,” was the answer.

“Gerard, he’s barely out of the adolescent stage of development! He probably just left his nest! Do you know how long humans live? Just eighty short years! That doesn’t even count health problems. And this one is a fourth way through the lifespan… What have you gotten into…?” Mikey said solemnly.

“L-let’s just not focus on this right now, please Mikey? We just got him to talk, just ask him some more stuff; I know you asked his name, what was it?” Gerard pleaded.

“He just said Frank. Usually they have two or three parts to their names, but I guess he just didn’t want to say,” Mikey mused. At the mention of his name, Frank perked up.

“Name?” he said cautiously.

“Hi Frank!” Gerard squealed, going over to the bed and sitting opposite the human.

“Hi,” he giggled. “Name?” he repeated.

Mikey stepped in, pointing to Gerard. “Gerard. Gee,” he said. He pointed to himself and said, “Mikey.”

“Hi Gee! Hi Mikey!” Frank said with a big smile. Gerard practically combusted with joy. He reached his arms out and picked Frank up under the arms, bringing the little creature into his arms. Frank momentarily froze in fear before relaxing when Gerard cuddled him into his large arms. He laughed again in the bigger being’s embrace, looking very comfy.

“You know, if you read anything about body language, you would’ve heard of the ‘hand shake’, Gee.” Mikey crossed his arms with a smile on his face.

Gerard whined, “But just look at him Mikes! He’s far too precious for just moving his hand around with yours.” He emphasized his point by tickling Frank, getting a large but delighted shriek and a peal of laughter out of the young boy in his arms.

“Yeah, he’s the cutest thing since zorlops,” Mikey admitted, but not without a hint of sarcasm.

“He’s light-years better than zorlops, Mikes,” Gerard said, continuing to play with Frank. He currently was letting Frank climb all over him like a monkey.

Mikey had to admit that he hadn’t seen Gerard this joyful in a while. Maybe this little human would do him some good and bring him some much needed love and happiness.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i decided this will take place like right after chapter 3

“Hey, Mikes! I found out why humans like to be petted! Isn’t that just the cutest?” Gerard rambled, eyes glued to his reading tablet. 

“Yeah Gee, cute as ever,” Mikey deadpanned, reading his own tablet. He was actually figuring out how to keep their smallest addition to the crew alive, not why he liked pets. 

“It says here that ‘because they are heavily social creatures, humans require tactile contact for physical health. Their young will actually die without frequent touchings of skin. Even as adults, their health deteriorates if they are isolated from touch.’ So you just… you have stroke them or they won’t grow right. They get a stroking-deficiency and die?!” he exclaimed.

“He’s out of that stage now, Gerard. He doesn’t need constant contact. He’s not a baby.” Mikey grumbled. He really just wanted to help his brother get the basics so that he could go back to his life before this disaster. "Plus, when they're older, it's called skin-hunger." 

“Their skin gets hungry?!" he screeched. "What does that even mean?! And you said he was barely out of adolescence! Adolescent means child! Oh, I have to find him and give him some pets now…,” Gerard said worriedly. He scurried off to find his human. 

A second later, he came back asking, “How do I tell him about pets?” He pouted, looking to Mikey to translate for him.

Mikey sighed. “Ugh,” he said, “Just bring him in here and I’ll try to tell him I guess, if you’re so intent on it.”

“Okay!” Gerard chirped, scuttling off again in search of his little friend. After a minute, he came back with Frank sat on one shoulder, his arm acting as a seatbelt across the human’s lap. One of Frank’s hands was on top of Gerard’s head, and the other was clutching a finger of the giant alien’s hand. Gerard sat down on a seat in the common area, where Mikey set up camp for researching. He took Frank off his shoulder, setting him down next to himself. Frank looked a little confused, but not worried. 

“Do I really have to do this, Gee?” Mikey asked. He set his head in his hand, wondering why he let his brother walk all over him.

“Yes! Of course, how else is he gonna get adequate health benefits?” Gerard said exasperatedly.

Mikey shook his head, mumbling to himself. He looked at Frank and started to piece sentences together.

“Gee read…book? Book say human, uh, need good touch. For health?” Mikey said hesitantly. He really hoped he got his point across. 

“Oh,” Frank said. He contemplated for a moment before simply replying, “Yeah. Sounds right. Why?”

“Gee wants pets. Pet you. Like human do, with others. Cud…C-cuddle?” He prayed he got the word right. He didn’t want the kid to get the wrong idea.  


“Cuddle? Okay,” Frank said. With that, he made grabby hands at Gerard, expecting his new snuggle buddy to pick him up. 

“There you go Gee, coo over him all you want. I got some more reading to do,” Mikey said dismissively. Gerard squealed in delight, scooping up the little human and cradling him like a baby or a small animal. 

Walking out of the room, Gerard called behind him, “We’ll be in my room! Socially bonding! Oh, that is just adorable…!” his voice getting harder to hear as he went to his room. Mikey huffed a small laugh.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> comment on what you'd like to see Gerard and Frank do together or how they'd interact with each other cute shit only you pervs

After a couple hours, Mikey went to see if Gerard and Frank were getting on well or not. He wandered across the ship to Gerard’s (and Frank’s now, he guessed) room. He slid open the door to see his brother with night clothes on and the human nowhere to be found. Gerard was wearing sleep pants and a backwards hoodie, looking surprised that Mikey had walked in.

“Where’s Frank?” Mikey questioned.

Gerard giggled and held the bottom of the hood that was right in his face. “In here.” He motioned for Mikey to come look inside the hood. 

Mikey crossed the threshold and peeked into the hood. There Frank was, all curled up, looking supremely cozy and just a little smug. 

“Isn’t this great?” Gerard crowed. “He can be with me all the time now!”

“I mean I guess,” Mikey mumbled. “Don’t be shocked when he doesn’t want to be attached at the hip anymore, though. Adult humans are mostly independent and don’t appreciate constant monitoring. They like having alone time, it’s good for them.” 

Gerard frowned, looking back down into the hood of his sweatshirt. Frank gave a small yawn and blinked sleepily at him, seeming very close to just passing out where he was. His heart melted and broke a bit at the same time. Why wouldn’t they be together always? 

Mikey saw his brother’s stupid pouty face and heaved a sigh. “While he’s taking a nap, why don’t you read some more? You’ll understand his behaviors better that way. It’ll be good to ‘get inside his head’, so to speak. I got all the reading material you could ever need transferred to your reader.” 

“Thanks, Mikes,” Gerard said, still with a tinge of melancholy in his voice. 

The two of them and a now sleeping Frank went back to the ship’s common room to do some reading. Gerard settled down carefully with the little human curled up on his chest. He propped his head up with a pillow and picked up his reader. 

“You know,” Mikey said with a smirk, “Humans love hearing heartbeats. It’s extremely soothing to them because they can hear their mother’s heartbeat in the womb, and that’s how they sometimes seek comfort when they’re older. If you ever hold him so his head is by your chest or even your shoulder they relax quite fast. That’s what the mothers do with their young and it seems to work at all ages.” 

Gerard looked at his small new friend like he had hung the moon. “I didn’t think they could hear things like that! They must have sharper senses than us. What cuties!” he whispered in awe.

“They’re very sensitive to sounds too, as long as they don’t have any hearing problems,” Mikey said. “Some of them can sleep through anything though. You’ll have to find out if he’s a light or heavy sleeper.”

“What about their eyes?” Gerard wondered.

“It’s hard to tell in humans. Some of them have to put glass that bends images when they look through them inside metal frames and hook them behind the top of their ears to help them see better. That’s relatively common, I would say. Some can’t see certain colors, or any colors at all besides the monochromatic scale. Some of them put a small layer of flexible plastic over their eye that helps them see better, like the glass.”

“They poke their eye with plastic?” Gerard scoffed. “That must feel terrible.”

“I can’t say how it feels, really. You can ask him all the questions you want after his nap.” Mikey gestured to the lump in Gerard’s hood.

“Okay!” Gerard chirped. “how long is he gonna sleep?”

“Well,” Mikey pondered. “Naps usually are no more than three Earth hours. If they go to sleep it’s about eight hours, or at least that’s what’s recommended. They have a shorter sleep cycle than us.”

“Will he sleep or will he nap?” 

“I don’t know. When humans go through a lot in their day, they sleep longer and heavier. We’ll just have to wait and see I guess.” Mikey mused. 

Gerard nodded, seemingly content with his brother’s answer. He turned back to Frank and his reader, eager to knock out some reading. He put his finger into the hood and petted Frank’s head. The small human leaned into the touch, letting out a small sigh and quirking his lips slightly in his sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy shit i'm sorry i left this fic for so long i just have had a lot going on rn. that will be explained in my chapter notes in the next chapter of a criminal mind which i'm also working on and getting it out there asap.

“You know,” Mikey started, “humans highly value their hygiene.”

“What’s that got to do with anything?” Gerard asked, still staring at Frank in his hoodie.

“That means give him a bath, dumbass,” Mikey snorted.

“But he’s asleep!” Gerard whined. But their tiny passenger had been sleeping a long time now, and Gerard was eager to play and get to know him. 

“Poke him,” Mikey said. “Gently,” he added, after seeing his brother’s overly exuberant face.

“Fraaank,” Gerard cooed, nudging him gently with his finger. The little human was prodded awake, and after crawling out of the alien’s hoodie, gave a big yawn and a shaking stretch. His eyes still looked a little glazed over, but other than that he looked coherent and listening.

Gerard picked him up and rose from the couch. “Tell him it’s bath time!” he asked of his brother. Gerard was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet by now. 

“Want a bath?” Mikey asked Frank for Gerard. He was hoping Gerard could get by on his own soon, because this interpreting business was getting old. Sure, seeing a human firsthand was fascinating, but he had to go back to school soon ad he couldn’t afford to miss a lot of time. Even if he told his instructors he had contact with an actual human.

“Okay!” Frank answered enthusiastically. Suddenly, his stomach made a large growl. The little human blushed and said, “Oops. I’m hungry.”

Gerard loudly announced, “To the kitchen!” He could tell what Frank was saying without a translator. He read about human digestive systems, and that weird noise coming from his little friend’s middle was indicative of an empty stomach.

The giant alien held Frank under his armpits out at elbows length, inspecting the human’s face. “Mikey! He changed colors!” Gerard gasped. Frank squirmed in his hands, not exactly enjoying being held out so far.

Mikey had followed the unlikely pair to their destination, knowing his brother would need help. “If you’re giving him a bath, his neck and chest are gonna end up red too,” he laughed. He knew about the physical changes humans go through when they experience strong emotions, like blushing and goosebumps, which Gerard will also be privy to soon enough. 

“But why?” Gerard asked, bringing Frank close again. He didn’t want to drop the poor wiggly being in his hands. That would definitely not go over well. His little human would probably leak again.

“He got embarrassed when his stomach growled. It’s usually considered a disturbance or something they should have already taken care of before they leave their nests to work or to go to school.” 

Mikey thought about what he said. When was the last time Frank ate? It had to be a while ago, judging by his grumbly tummy.

Gerard looked shocked as he said, “Why didn’t he say anything earlier?! They need to be watered too, don’t they? We need to put him in some water!” 

“No, Gee, they don’t need to be watered, but they still need water in general. They consume water like they consume food,” Mikey informed. Maybe he needed to stay longer than he thought.

“But still, he needs water. Why don’t they absorb it? I heard they need to moisturize… That means put the water on the skin!” Gerard was trying so hard to understand his new friend. It was very endearing to Mikey.

“That’s a different type of liquid, like a salve, and it’s not required to have for all humans. It’s fine, Gerard, really,” Mikey reassured. 

Gerard heaved a huge sigh of relief. “Okay, good,” he said.

Mikey patted him on the arm. “You haven’t done anything wrong yet, so it’s going really well in my opinion,” he chuckled. 

“Yay!” Gerard cheered. “Hear that Frankie?” he said, shaking the human in his arms a little in excitement. 

“What?” Frank asked confusedly. All he heard was his name amongst their indecipherable alien language. 

“Nothing, it’s okay,” Mikey said to him in English. They got to the kitchen, and Gerard set him down on the countertop. 

“He’s gotta bathe in the sink. He’s too small for any of our facilities,” Mikey realized. 

“Really?” Gerard cooed. “That’s adorable!”

Mikey laughed and said, “Well he’s gonna hate it. Usually only infants get bathed in the sink in human culture because they’re too small and don’t have the cognitive or motor skills to do it themselves.”

“He’s not infantile though… is that why he won’t like it? ‘Cuz he’ll think we think he’s a baby?” Gerard wondered.

Mikey looked down at Frank, noticing he had sat down with his legs crossed and his hands folded over his stomach. He didn’t look too mad, but maybe he didn’t think about anything other than food, since they were in the kitchen. It was reasonable.

“You have to go in sink,” Mikey told Frank. “Too small for bathroom…”

Frank looked incredulous. “Nooo,” he whined. He didn’t want some giant ass aliens getting a peep show.

“Humans like privacy, Gee. I can understand his reluctance to bathe here. His ancestors had to be wary about predators, and in a vulnerable state such as that they would only focus on themselves. It’s called ‘self-consciousness’,” Mikey informed. 

“Aww,” Gerard replied, “Just tell him we won’t look then.” Mikey knew Gerard would look anyway. 

Mikey laughed, “You liar. You want to look at his markings; I’ve seen you looking at them.”

“Okay, yeah,” Gerard sighed. “But I won’t look at them that much…”

Mikey scoffed, facing Frank. “We… not look,” he tried in his best English. “We get food. Really.”

The small human looked accepting of his defeat. “Fine,” he huffed before taking off his sweatshirt. His tattoos were apparent immediately, his arms smattered with strange images. Gerard gasped and took Frank’s hand, inspecting the pictures closely. 

“Look Mikey!” Gerard gestured, his eyes still transfixed on Frank’s arm. “They’re so pretty! How are those on there? Do they show up with maturity? Or an achievement of some sort?”

“My tattoos!” Frank said gleefully. “You like them?”

“He got those put on him, Gee. They don’t have to be for a special reason, but sometimes they like to commemorate things by putting it on their bodies. Some is for decoration, or aesthetics,” Mikey explained. 

“But how do they get on there?” Gerard asked, running his fingers on the slightly raised skin.

Mikey hesitated. He knew Gerard didn’t like needles, but what else was he supposed to say?

“They get special ink inserted into their skin by pushing a needle through the skin, and the ink stays just under the first layer of it. It’s a painful process, but to some it’s worth it. I’d say Frank doesn’t mind it, or he wouldn’t have so many.”

“Needles?!” Gerard exclaimed. “Why would he do that to himself? Does he like to feel pain?”

“Everyone has their own reason to get tattoos, Gee,” Mikey reminded his brother. “Some people hate tattoos, and think of them as dirty or bad. It’s a personal preference.”

“Let’s just let him get into the sink,” he continued, “Get him some nice scented soaps or something.”

“Not anything too strong though right? What with their cute little super sniffers,” Gee commented, tapping Frank on the nose lightly. He grinned after he heard the little human giggle. He then high-tailed it out of the room for bathing supplies.

“Sorry,” Mikey said to Frank. “He love you so much.”

“Really?” Frank squeaked, his face rapidly turning red again. He hid his face in his hands, feeling his face burn.

“Yeah,” Mikey smiled. “I get food, okay?” 

“Okay”, Frank replied meekly. He took his pants off as Mikey wandered away, searching for a good meal for the three of them.

Gerard came back in with a couple of bottles in his hands, beaming at Frank. That just made Frank turn redder, recalling what the alien’s brother confessed just a moment ago.

“Hi!” Gerard squealed, animated as ever. He set the bottles down and turned the faucet on an acceptable temperature and pressure. 

Frank looked at the bottles warily, noticing they were as tall as he was. He’d never be able to get anything out of them. He probably couldn’t even lift them.

“Mikey!” he decided to yell. He unfortunately would need help with his makeshift shower. 

The younger brother came in, confused. “Did you do something Gerard?” he asked with a joking tone.

“No, I just got the bottles and started up the faucet!” Gerard defended.

“What, Frank?” Mikey questioned the small human.

“I need help,” Frank confessed. “Those are too big.” He pointed at the bottles.

“Gerard can help. That okay?” Mikey asked. 

“Okay…” Frank replied warily. He had to get clean somehow.

“Gee, put some soap in his hands when he asks for it. Otherwise, just turn around and wait for him to say ‘soap’,” Mikey told Gerard. 

“Sope?” Gerard tried.

“That’s good enough, sure.” Mikey just let that one go.

Mikey went back to cooking, and Gerard helped Frank shower. Gerard still snuck glances at the little human, looking for more tattoos. It was mind boggling to him that anyone would undergo that procedure voluntarily.

Frank was done in about ten minutes. He called for Gerard to turn the water off and to give him a towel. A small hand towel seemed to do the trick to dry him entirely. He reluctantly got back into his clothing, not seeing another option. 

Mikey called them for their meal, so the alien carried Frank to the table and sat him down on the table itself, as he was too small for a chair. Mikey served some kind of soup with noodles in it, Frank’s noodles being cut into tinier pieces for him. They all dug in, the two brothers engaging in conversation and the human content with just listening to the intriguing language.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am so sorry for leaving all my fics in the dust like this i just need to get back into a groove. I have found it's becoming fun again and i have a new idea for a fic BUT i need to get more into the selkie fic so i'll hold off on getting new fics out there and work on developing the ones i already have. I don't seem to even have a plot for my vampire one so i gotta think about some shit before i update that one i think. i'm thinking they take a trip to nyc babey but then bad times at the okay corral happen you feel 
> 
> so for this fic i thought it was very suspicious that frank was so cool with just being taken out of his life like that so i made up a good explanation lol but its gonna maybe get dark??? idk it will become Juicey Supream *ok hand sign emoji*

“Hey Mikes, look at this!”

Gerard was looking through his reader again, looking for as much information to cram in his head about his new little friend as possible.

“It says the type of air we breathe is different than humans…” he trailed off interestingly. "Ours has a compound in it that humans aren’t familiar with in normal circumstances? They call it marey-joe-wannah?”

Mikey’s eyes practically bulged out of his head. “WHAT?!” he cried, running up to his brother and snatching up the reader. 

“Oh no,…” Mikey said, putting his head in his hands and sitting down on the common room’s sofa. “We’ve basically been giving him drugs this entire time!”

“So… What does that mean?” Gerard asked curiously. He didn’t know what the big deal was. Frank didn’t seem to be suffering from inhaling anything in the air, so what was the problem?

“The compound in our air is used as a recreational and medicinal mind altering substance in humans! That’s why he’s not acting like he really should be! I always thought it was suspicious when he didn’t make a big fuss about literally being taken off of his home world. The common public on his planet don’t even know there’s life in the universe besides themselves!” Mikey rambled, waving his hands around emphatically. 

“He’s been sleeping too much to be normal, his reflexes aren’t as sharp as they should be, he ate those noodles like he was dying without them, and he let you bathe him in our sink, for the cosmos’ sake!” His voice went up in volume and pitch until he was nearly screaming.

Gerard didn’t know what to think. He’d never seen his brother act so neurotically before. This must be a seriously bad situation if his usually calm and collected brother is screeching about the health and safety of their pocket-sized charge. 

“What do we do then? Is this air bad for him?” Gerard questioned anxiously. He didn’t want his poor little friend to suffer.

“We have to tell him and see what happens. We can take him to my school; I’m sure someone there can help,” Mikey reasoned.

“Should I go wake Frank up then?” Gerard asked. He fell asleep again right away after he had stuffed himself silly with an astounding amount of noodles. 

Mikey sighed, “Yeah, you might as well. I don’t know how to tell him this, it sounds insane…” 

Gerard walked to his bedroom to see Frank snuggled up in the covers towards the middle of the bed. Gerard had built a sort of nest out of blankets for Frank to curl up in, and he did so happily before promptly falling asleep. 

Gerard sat on the side of the bed and poked Frank awake. “Fraaaaank…” he whispered, trying to get the human back into a state of semi-coherent consciousness. 

Frank yawned widely, stretching in the little nest. “Huh?” he squeaked confusedly.

“Mikey,” Gerard said, holding out his arms so that he could pick up the small human. Frank groaned in slight annoyance but conceded.

When they arrived, Gerard stood Frank up on the couch and sat next to him. Mikey still looked a little manic, but he seemed to have calmed down since Gerard went to get Frank. He sat on the other side of Frank and tried to begin the craziest conversation he’d ever had. 

Mikey rubbed his temples anxiously as he tried to communicate. “Frank,” he started, “Our air… bad for you. Not good for human. You know THC? Has that. Very bad.”

“What?!” Frank sputtered, “There’s kush fumes in the air?! Holy shit!” He shook his head and started giggling madly. “That’s why all of this has felt like it’s a dream!”

“Sorry, Frank,” Mikey said apologetically. He thought Frank would be more angry about it, but was a little confused as to why he just brushed the information off. Maybe the chemical has a greater impact on the mind than he thought?

“Okay, so what do we do?” Frank finally asked after calming down after his giggling fit.

“What DO we do…?” Mikey mused, looking towards Gerard for ideas. He usually wouldn’t do that, but he thought it was time to get creative. 

“What if he comes with us to your school? I’m sure there’s someone who can help…” Gerard thought out loud. “Do you know anyone in a science department that could get the right combination of elements in the air for him?”

“Gerard, that is literally genius! Have you been holding out on me all this time?” Mikey laughed. 

“Shut up,” Gerard fake pouted, crossing his arms huffily. He then reached out and scooped up Frank, squishing him to his face and chest.  
Frank launched into another giggle fit, squirming and laughing. Gerard enveloped him in his arms and nuzzled their noses together. “Fraaank, Mikey’s being mean to me!” he whined. 

“You learned some more body language?” Mikey observed. 

“Yeah!” Gerard replied. “They do the nose thing when it’s too cold out to have anything but their little noses peeking out! It’s like a kiss! Isn’t that adorable?”

“Yeah, okay, I’ll admit it’s pretty cute. But shut up about it!” Mikey said exasperatedly. “I’ve got some friends to contact back at school so they can help us when we get there. Set a course, would you?”

Gerard stood up, cradling Frank in one arm. “Aye aye, captain!” he saluted. “Let’s go, Frankie.”


End file.
